With the over the top band photos, song titles like “DisasTinder”, “Brazil is Great” and “I Love Nu Metal”, and a release date of April 1st it would be easy to assume this is an elaborate prank. Well, it’s April 5th (sorry, I was late slapping this onto the MP3 player) and though it’s funny… it’s no joke. As such.
I mean, this obviously isn’t a release that meant to be taken seriously in the same way as, say, something from Maiden. But musically it’s as well-produced as any other mainstream release. Like Steel Panther or Psychostick, it may be being played for laughs but where the music begins, so does the hard work. This Is Nu Metal! is part piss-take, part homage to the rise of a metal sub-genre that so many people love to hate.
Every track pays tribute to a band, a riff, or a theme well known from the halcyon era of early nu-metal. Close enough to be recognisable, altered enough to avoid lawsuits for defamation and copyright abuse. Vanilla Ice could have done with these guys when he was trying to get away with that “it’s got one extra note in it” bullshit. The twat. Take “DisasTinder”, for instance. The name immediately throws you to “Disasterpiece” from Slipknot’s Iowa, and indeed the song opens in similar fashion. The lyrics and majority of the song, however, pull more from “Duality”. So, this is TVI’s Slipknot track, much as “Whores of Instagram” is their take on System of a Down, and “Nu-Metal!” just drips Coal Chamber / The Union Underground.
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Without going through every song, The Violent Inzident have absolutely nailed it. The whole album is a good-natured jab at a bunch of bands that the were probably huge fans of when they were young, impressionable and angry at their dads. The whole thing proves that there are benefits to not growing up. Sometimes it creates great, fun, tongue-in-cheek albums. Sometimes it just rakes in tons of cash, like if you’re Nickelback and 50+ years old and still writing songs about shagging your girlfriend in the car and hoping her dad doesn’t catch you will someone please tell them they’re too old for that shit?
This Is Nu Metal! is good enough that you won’t just ram it on once for a giggle and to see if you recognise all the bands being ripped off paid homage to. It’s as funny as Robb Flynn in spiky dreads, wearing an orange tracksuit top, but will age far better.
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This Is Nu Metal! is out now
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